DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 10, 13-18 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A.
As to claim 1, CN114495720A discloses in figure 4: a flexible display panel 110 including a display surface, the display surface including a light-transmissive region (opening region 131 in figure 2 having light transmittance); a support plate 130 disposed on a side of the flexible display panel 110 facing away from the display surface, the support plate having a light-transmissive hole 1311; a transparent support structure 150 filled in the light-transmissive hole, an orthographic projection of the transparent support structure on the display surface at least partially overlaps with the light-transmissive region.
CN114495720A does not disclose a light-shielding portion disposed on at least part of a sidewall of the light-transmissive hole. CN113421900A discloses in figure 2, a display module 100 comprising a support plate 120 provided with a light-transmissive hole 300 and a light-shielding portion 152 disposed on at least part of a side wall of the light-transmissive hole. CN113421900A discloses that the light-shielding portion 152 reduces light leakage by preventing light from the display region from leaking into the light-transmissive region. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify CN114495720A by providing a light-shielding portion disposed on at least part of a sidewall of the light-transmissive hole as disclosed by CN113421900A in order to reduce light leakage by preventing light from the display region from leaking into the light-transmissive region.
As to claim 10, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses wherein the support plate 130 includes stainless steel. CN114495720A further discloses regarding figure 1, that the thickness of the stainless-steel support plate 6 in a convention display device is 100μm to 150μm.
As to claim 13, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, an optical glue 122 (second adhesive layer) and a foam layer 123 (elastomer layer). CN114495720A does not disclose a first adhesive layer. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A by providing a first adhesive layer between the foam layer 123 and the support plate 130 in order to securely attach the foam layer 123 to the support plate 130. This would have resulted in the foam layer 123 being located between the first adhesive layer and the optical glue 122 (second adhesive layer), with the first adhesive layer located on a side of the foam layer 123 proximate to the support plate 130. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 3, light rays B passing through the foam layer 123. Therefore, the foam layer 123 is a transparent elastomer layer with light transmittance of greater than or equal to 95%.
As to claims 14-15, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 13, but does not disclose the elastic modulus of the foam layer or a material of the foam layer. However, thermoplastic polyurethane material was well known for its versatility, high elasticity, and abrasion-resistance, making it a very suitable material for the foam layer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A wherein a material of the foam layer includes a thermoplastic polyurethan elastomer because of its versatility, high elasticity, and abrasion-resistance. Thermoplastic polyurethane typically exhibits a modulus ranging from 10 to 700 MPa.
As to claim 16, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 13. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, a light converging layer including a plurality of microlenses 1232 arranged at intervals, wherein the plurality of microlenses are located between the foam layer 123 (transparent elastomer layer) and the optical glue 122 (second adhesive layer), and an orthographic projection of the plurality of microlenses on the display surface at least partially overlaps with the orthographic projection of the transparent support structure 150 on the display surface.
As to claim 17, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 16. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, wherein the plurality of microlenses is located between the foam layer 123 (transparent elastomer layer) and the optical glue 122 (second adhesive layer), but does not disclose the claimed structure of the microlenses. However, it was well known for a microlens to include the claimed structure in order to refract light to achieve the desired light path. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A by providing the microlenses with the claimed structure in order to refract light to achieve the desired light path.
As to claim 18, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses wherein a material of the transparent support structure 150 includes ultra-thin flexible glass, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
As to claim 20, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, wherein the support plate 130 includes a first support portion, a second support portion and a bendable portion 132 located between the first support portion and the second support portion, wherein the bendable portion 132 has a plurality of grooves, and there is at least one light-transmissive hole 1311, the at least one light-transmissive hole is located in the first support portion or the second support portion.
As to claim 21, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, an optical fingerprint sensor 140 (optical device) located on a side of the support plate 130 away from the flexible display panel 110, wherein an orthographic projection of the optical fingerprint sensor on the support plate 130 at least partially overlaps with the light-transmissive hole 1311.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN108885376A.
As to claim 2, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose a reflection-reducing layer located in the light-transmissive hole, wherein the reflection-reducing layer and the transparent support structure are stacked. CN108885376A discloses in figure 4, an anti-reflective film 411 on the inner side of the lower substrate of the LCD to further increase the transmission rate and provide a good optical base for optics such as the camera 230. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A by providing a reflection-reducing layer located in the light-transmissive hole, wherein the reflection-reducing layer and the transparent support structure are stacked, as disclosed by CN108885376A in order to increase the transmission rate of the light-transmissive region.
As to claim 3, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN108885376A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 2. Furthermore, the reflection-reducing layer of CN108885376A would be located on a side of the transparent support structure proximate to the flexible display panel within the device of CN114495720A.
As to claim 4, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN108885376A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 2, but does not disclose wherein the reflection-reducing layer includes: at least two first refractive layers; and a second refractive layer located between two adjacent first refractive layers in the at least two first refractive layers; wherein a refractive index of a first refractive layer in the at least two first refractive layers is less than a refractive index of the second refractive layer. However, it was a conventional arrangement for reflection-reducing layers to include an alternating stack of layers with different refractive indices. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A wherein the reflection-reducing layer includes the structure as claimed because conventional structures were known to be cost-effective and reliable.
Claims 5-9 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CN114446169A.
As to claim 5, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose a transparent protective layer located on a side of the support plate facing away from the flexible display panel, wherein an orthographic projection of the transparent protective layer on the support plate covers the light-transmissive hole. CN114446169A further discloses in figure 2, a transparent protective layer 4 located on a side of the support plate 1 away from the flexible display panel 3, wherein an orthographic projection of the transparent protective layer on the support plate covers the light-transmissive hole 11. The transparent protective layer 4 provides support and protection to the fill layer 2. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A by providing a transparent protective layer as disclosed by CN114446169A in order to provide support and protection to the transparent support structure.
As to claim 6, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 5. Furthermore, a minimum distance between a border of the orthographic projection of the transparent protective layer on the support plate and the light-transmissive hole is greater than or equal to 0.5 mm.
As to claim 7, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 5. CN114446169A further discloses that the transparent protective layer 4 may be a polyurethane acrylate material, which may be designed to be flexible (1.76 MPa to <100 MPa).
As to claim 8, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 5. CN114446169A further discloses in figure 2, wherein a thickness of the transparent protective layer 4 decreases slightly from a center overlapping the fixing glue layer 20 to an edge of the transparent protective layer.
As to claim 9, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 5. CN114446169A further discloses wherein the thickness of the transparent protective layer 4 is 10μm to 50μm.
As to claim 11, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. CN114495720A further discloses wherein the support plate 130 includes stainless-steel (second metal layer). CN114495720A further discloses in figure 4, a foam layer 123 (auxiliary support layer) located on a side of the second metal layer proximate to the flexible display panel 110. The foam layer 123 would have a unit weight that is less than the unit weight of the stainless-steel layer 130. CN114495720A further discloses regarding figure 1, that the thickness of the stainless-steel support plate 6 in a convention display device is 100μm to 150μm. Because the foam layer 123 would likely have a thickness similar to that of the stainless-steel layer 130, the combined thickness of the stainless-steel layer 130 and the foam layer 123 would be 200μm to 300μm.
As to claim 12, CN114495720A in view of CN113421900A and CN114446169A discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 11, but does not disclose wherein a material of the foam layer 123 includes carbon fiber. However, carbon fiber was well known for its flexibility and toughness, making it a very suitable material for the foam layer 123. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify CN114495720A wherein a material of the foam layer 123 includes carbon fiber because of its flexibility and toughness.
Conclusion
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2871